Family Basics: No Child Should Be Cold

No child should be cold. No child should go to bed without warm bedding, or face the school day in clothes that don’t fit. Yet every week at Wood Street Mission, we meet families who are doing everything they can, and still can’t afford the basics their children need. Family Basics exists for one reason: to make sure children across Manchester and Salford have the essentials that every child deserves, but far too many are going without.

Supporting Families When It Matters Most

Every year, we provide families with the essential items that help children feel warm, safe, and cared for. From clothing and bedding to household basics, these are not luxuries, they are the foundations of a child’s wellbeing, basic things that can change the tone of a whole childhood.

In 2025, 2,714 children received support through Family Basics. That’s 2,714 children who had warm coats for winter, clean bedding to sleep in, and clothes that fit. But behind every number is a child who simply deserves comfort, dignity, and the chance to grow up without the weight of poverty on their shoulders.

The Reality for Families

Every week, we meet parents who are making impossible choices.
Parents who stretch every penny to keep their children warm.
Parents who worry their child won’t succeed at school, not because of who they are, but because they don’t have the essentials that help them feel confident.

These are loving, hardworking families doing everything they can. But the rising cost of living has pushed many to the breaking point, leaving them without the basics their children need to feel safe, warm, and included.

Family Basics steps in at the moment when families feel they have nowhere else to turn, providing dignity, comfort, and the essentials every child deserves.

Why Your Support Matters

When you donate to Family Basics, you’re not just giving a coat or a set of bedding.
You’re giving:

• Warmth on a freezing morning
• Comfort at bedtime
• Confidence at school
• Relief for parents who are doing their very best

Most importantly, you’re giving a child the chance to feel like every other child, not singled out, not left behind, not cold.

The Need Is Growing

With an estimated 90,000 children living in poverty across Manchester and Salford, the demand for Family Basics continues to rise. Every week, more families reach out for help. Every week, we see the difference your support makes.

But we cannot meet this need without you.

Help Us Keep Children Warm, Safe, and Supported

Your donation, big or small, helps us provide the essentials that no child should ever be without.

Please donate today and help us continue this vital work.

Together, we can make sure no child grows up cold, overlooked, or without the basics they deserve.